ANCESTRAL ENDEAVORS A MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE LAFAYETTE GENEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Volume 2005 Issue 3 March 2005 www.rootsweb.com/~lalgs The Minutes of the March 17, 2005 Meeting The March meeting of the Lafayette Genealogical Society was held in the Bibliographic Instruction Lab of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Library with President Earl Gates calling the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. A welcome was extended to all members and visitors. A moment of silence was taken for our military. The Pledge of Allegiance was given to the flag that had flown over Kabul, Afghanistan and was brought by member JoAnn Pugh, whose son was serving in the military there. Earl exhibited a photograph album he purchased at a flea market; it was passed around to see if anyone could identify any individuals with an attempt to return it to a family member. Earl then went on to speak of "The Value of a Website," about the Lafayette Genealogical Society's web site developed by Cindy Hofmeister for the society. He asked for suggestions for improvements, evaluations, and corrections. From the website one can navigate to many different links with Louisiana information or even broader areas of interest. Following the presentation many compliments were given for the format and ease of navigation of the website. Spelling corrections were noted. It was suggested that our website be in the heading of the newsletter and any society correspondence or publications. It was suggested that there be a beginner's guide with several charts and suggestions for recording basic genealogic information. Charles Patterson demonstrated the CD of the annual "Le Memories." All past publications have been scanned and placed on one CD. The quality of some of the older volumes is poor due to the use of the old dot matrix printers. The volumes can be sold as one CD with all issues, or as a CD of individual issues. The society may have to address this decision. Announcements: Warren LeBlanc, treasurer of the society announced that 2005 dues are due. James Bourque, President of the Board of Directors of the Acadian Memorial, announced that the first annual Acadian Festival will be held in St.Martinville on Saturday, March 19,2005. Dottie Burleigh announced that The Daughters of the American Revolution has a web site, www.dar.org where members can make queries about their ancestors being in the DAR rolls. It may take approximately 2 weeks for the patriot lookup. Lona Bourque brought the 2004"Le Memories" to the new library in Abbeville, LA. New Members: Mardrie Dupuis, Mark Dupuis, and Suzanne Dupuis from Jennings, LA. The treasurer's report is unchanged. President Earl Gates reported on a visit to the Lafayette Parish Court House on Monday, March 14, 2005 by Earl, Jean Kiesel, and Brenda Fuselier. Upon meeting with several clerks of the court, we requested what records the society might undertake to record as a group project. We were informed that all records are recorded under an individual's name in alphabetical order in the Vendor or Vendee Indexes. Marriage records are filed alphabetically in the Groom's Index and Bride's Index. Although there are many records available, they are not separated by any groupings. Conveyances, mortgage records, wills, land grants, passports, maps, etc. are all available. Huey Breaux suggested that a project the society might pursue is that of recording the old and new succession numbers that have been instituted at the courthouse. Abstracting successions, although extremely valuable, would be very time consuming, and we are looking for projects that might not take an extended period of! time in order to have some information that could be published in a tentative quarterly publication. Jean Kiesel suggested that possibly finding some unusual records, such as World War I Draft Registration Records and Coroner's Inquests that give more genealogical information other than birth, marriage, and death dates would be worthwhile. Those records would tell us who our ancestors were, how they spent their lives---information that would bring our ancestors to life. There being no further business, it was moved and seconded that the meeting be adjourned. April Meeting: Thursday, April 21, 2005 Louisiana Room of the UL Library, third floor. May Meeting: Thursday, May 19, 2005 Meeting Room of the Downtown Public Library. Respectfully submitted, Brenda Fuselier, Secretary